| Stratford Mill | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | John Constable |
| Year | 1820 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 127 cm× 182.9 cm(50 in× 72.0 in) |
| Location | National Gallery, London |
Stratford Mill is an 1820 oil on canvas painting by the British landscape artist John Constable. It is the second painting in the series of six-footers depicting working scenes on the River Stour, a series that includes The Hay Wain . [1] The painting is now in the collection of the National Gallery in London. [1]
The scene is Stratford St. Mary about two miles west of East Bergholt. [2] Stratford Mill was a water-powered paper mill, located on a small island just outside the village, [1] it can be seen on the far left of the picture. Constable made a sketch of children fishing by the mill in 1811 now known as Anglers at Stratford Mill (private collection), [1] but this view extends to display more of the river, a barge and the meadow across the way.
After the success of his first 'six-footer' The White Horse , Constable abandoned plans to paint his large canvas The Opening of Waterloo Bridge seen from Whitehall Stairs, 18 June 1817, in favour of submitting a second Stour series painting. [3] Stratford Mill was exhibited at the Royal Academy exhibition in 1820 and was a success. The Examiner described it as having ‘a more exact look of nature than any picture we have ever seen by an Englishman’. [3] It acquired a buyer in the loyal John Fisher, [4] who purchased the painting for 100 Guineas, a price he himself thought too low. [5] He gifted the painting to his solicitor and friend John Pern Tinney. [3] Tinney loved the painting and offered Constable another 100 Guineas to paint a companion picture, Constable declined. [3] In the years to follow Tinney would have to put up with numerous requests from Constable to borrow back his prized possession for rework and exhibitions. [1] After Tinney's death David Lucas produced a mezzotint, which was published in 1840 under the name ‘The Young Waltonians’ in reference to the Izaak Walton book, The Compleat Angler . [1]
The full size oil sketch is held by the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven. [6]
John Constable was an English landscape painter in the Romantic tradition. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for revolutionising the genre of landscape painting with his pictures of Dedham Vale, the area surrounding his home – now known as "Constable Country" – which he invested with an intensity of affection. "I should paint my own places best", he wrote to his friend John Fisher in 1821, "painting is but another word for feeling".
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The Windmill of Wijk bij Duurstede is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Dutch painter Jacob van Ruisdael. It is an example of Dutch Golden Age painting and is now in the collection of the Amsterdam Museum, on loan to the Rijksmuseum.
The Vale of Dedham is an 1828 oil painting by the English painter John Constable which depicts Dedham Vale on the Essex-Suffolk border in eastern England. It is in the permanent collection of the Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh.
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The Glebe Farm is an 1830 landscape painting by the British artist John Constable. It shows a view of the Glebe Farm in the village of Langham in Essex on the Stour River in what is often now known as "Constable Country". Seen clearly behind it is the tower of St Mary's Church. Constable seems to have been inspired to paint the work by the death of his patron the Bishop of Salisbury in 1825. The Bishop had been rector of Langham in the 1790s when Constable first met him.
Dedham Lock and Mill is an c.1820 landscape painting by the English artist John Constable. It shows a view of the River Stour at Dedham in Essex close to the border of his native Suffolk, an area now known as "Constable Country". Constable's father owned the mill as well as nearby Flatford Mill, which he painted on numerous occasions. St Mary's Church is seen in the distance.